Photo for The Union by John Hart
Grass Valley Downtown Association presents Downtown Ice Rink, at Gold Miners Inn-Holiday Inn Express, 121 Bank Street, Grass Valley, this weekend, free admission with $3 skate rental. Kids play with the fake snow in the bubble and families had their photos taken in the bubble.

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The synthetic ice skating rink is officially up and running in downtown Grass Valley to the delight of more than 100 participants who visited the rink Friday.

“It’s definitely been a hit,” said April Halliday, volunteer for the Grass Valley Downtown Association. “We were expecting it to be slow since it’s a school day. This weekend is going to be nuts.”

Some said the rink’s synthetic surface took some time to adjust to.

“It’s not the same as real ice,” said Jennifer Roberts, who skated with her son, Holden. “It glides fine but doesn’t grip at all and you can’t push out. But I love the idea of it, and it’s so cool to set something up like this and make it affordable.”

Some of the children said even though the material was different, the experience was enjoyable.

“It isn’t like real ice,” said Reed Young, 11. “You couldn’t really get a grip. It was pretty fun though.”

Some said they would have liked a bit more elbow room on the rink, which measures 40 by 60 feet.

“You can’t really go fast on it. It’s really greasy when you touch it,” said Holden, 10. “I think it should be bigger.”

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to get skates on,” said Nevada City resident Brian Young. “You can tell the surface is not exactly like real ice. You have to learn how to skate on it. But the synthetic works. It just needs to be bigger.”

Other residents echoed the sentiment of the benefit of having the rink set up in the community.

“It’s pretty cool to be doing this in Grass Valley,” said Grace O’Mara from Penn Valley, who said she was a figure skater as a child. “It’s really cool. I think it should be three times as big, but at least we’re in Grass Valley and the sun is shining.”

The synthetic rink is padded unlike regular ice, which makes for a less painful fall, O’Mara noted.